ifili

Tashelhit

Alternative forms

• ifilu, afulu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiH-(s-)lo-der.

Proto-Italic *fī(s)lom

Latin fīlumbor.?

Proto-Berber

Tashelhit ifili

Inherited from Proto-Berber. Often derived from Latin fīlum (“thread”), but since the noun appears to be related to Zenati verbs such as Tarifit feř (“to set up the loom”), the resemblance may be coincidental.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ifili/

Noun

ifili m (plural ifalan, Tifinagh spelling ⵉⴼⵉⵍⵉ, Arabic spelling ايفيلي)

2. yarn, thread
3. twine
4. cord
5. fishing net

Inflection

Inflection of ifili

	singular	plural
free state	ifili	ifalan
annexed state	ifili	ifalan

Derived terms

• mmifalan (“needle”)

See also

• gnu (“to sew”)
• izikr (“rope”)
• taḍuṭṭ (“wool”)
• ẓḍ (“to weave”)

References

• Stroomer, Harry (2025), Dictionnaire berbère tachelḥiyt-français — Tome 2 F–L (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 188/2) (in French), Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 1043b